Angelo Mozilo

The former Countrywide Financial Corp., whose subprime loans helped start the foreclosure crisis, made hundreds of discount loans to buy influence with members of Congress, congressional staff, top government officials and executives of Fannie Mae, according to a House report.

The ongoing saga of Facebook's post-IPO tumble is a classic, Greek-style tragedy of hubris, epic overreach, and equally epic failure, and the media can't get enough of it -- even though large chunks of it are essentially fictional.

Angelo Mozilo, the former head of Countrywide Financial, isn't going to jail. In fact, he won't even face a trial. Wondering how the most convictable CEO among the titans who brought down the financial system is getting off so easy? The answer lies in the revolving door between Wall Street and its "regulators."

Allstate is suing Bank of America and its Countrywide Financial division over Countrywide's sale of $700 million in mortgage-backed securities to the insurance giant, alleging that Countrywide knew in advance that the assets would drop in value because of a high percentage of defaults.

Countrywide Financial Corp. co-founder Angelo Mozilo, along with two others, has reached a settlement agreement with the Securities and Exchange Commission related to charges of insider trading and civil fraud.

California Attorney General Jerry Brown is suing eight current and former city executives from the town of Bell over ridiculously the absurdly inflated salaries they paid themselves, which they financed by overcharging Bell residents on taxes and fees.

Angelo Mozilo, former CEO of Countrywide Financial Corp., must face trial on charges he misled investors about the risks associated with subprime lending, a judge in Los Angeles ruled.
U.S. District Judge John F. Walter denied requests from Mozilo and two other former Countrywide executives for a ruling that there were no genuine issues to be tried, Bloomberg News said.

The financial crisis was produced by a complex set of circumstances, including a massive housing bubble, poor regulation and irresponsible lending on an epic scale. A handful of bankers became the public faces of the crisis, and now, two years later, we take a look at what became of them.